STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

Wood River Valley residents who are interested in helping to build a better community are invited to attend Wednesday’s meeting of 5B Engine Works.

The meeting will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 22, at The Community Library.

Kaz Thea will tell how the Mountain Collective supports Rotarun Ski Area’s afterschool ski lessons. And Deb Van Law will describe the Blaine County Education Foundation’s suicide prevention programs at Carey High School.

5B Engine Works was founded three years ago to offer valley residents a collective giving opportunity to address the smaller nonprofit organizations in Blaine County that are doing meaningful work but don’t always have the resources to tell their stories.

5B Engine Works has handed out $56,925 since its inceptions to such nonprofits as The Alliance of Idaho, Hailey’s Children’s Library, 5B Housing, Crisis Hotline, Wood River Middle School summer reading program and The Space.

Founder Nancie Tatum was inspired to name the organization after the trains or engines that brought tourists to Blaine County following the founding of Sun Valley Resort. Also figuring into the equation was “The Little Engine That Could” children’s book about the little engine that scaled a mountain saying, “I think I can, I think I can.”

In that book, Tatum points out, each train gives different reasons why it won’t, or can’t help. But the book touts the importance of doing the right thing, no matter what, through a Little Blue Engine named Tillie that helps deliver.

5B Engine Works hosts meetings during which a few nonprofits are invited to make a pitch for a project that needs funding. Members give a minimum of $100 a quarter to support at least one of the organizations that have made presentations.

5B Engine Works, for instance, recently donated $3,200 to the Blaine County Education Foundation’s school lunch programs. It donated $2,240 to 5B Anglers for its first youth fishing camp—Camp Trout.

5B Engine Works donated $3,100 to Boulder Mountain Clayworks to help underwrite the cost of making 300 bowls for Blaine County Charitable Fund’s Empty Bowls soup, salad and dessert fundraiser Feb. 2.

The organization’s director Lauren Street shared how Boulder Mountain Clayworks had worked with more than 500 children and 700 adults during the first nine months of2024. The non-profit organization provided clay projects for 85-plus Bloom students at The Hunger Coalition over the summer, using self-drying clay so the youngsters could take their pieces home the same day.

The organization also offered free instruction for students at Syringa Mountain School, Trinity School, Sun Valley Eagle Christian Academy, Sage School, Montessori and those being homeschooled. Montessori students, for instance, spent four weeks making clay projects at Boulder Mountain Clayworks  as part of its study on ancient civilizations

5B Engine Works also recently donated $1,375 to the Hospice and Palliative Care of the Wood River Valley to provide nutritious foods for clients who cannot access nutritive foods due to lack of funds or inability to drive themselves to the grocery store. Meals on Wheels is not always a good option for  chronically ill patients, said Alli Collins, the organization’s former executive director.

Collins told 5B Engine Works members that the hospice, founded 39 years ago, provides care via licensed registered nurses. It also offers bereavement services for individuals who have experienced a loss for up to a year after a loved one’s death.

The organization does not bill Medicare or other insurance. Clients are supported free of charge, thanks to donations and grants.

Want to learn more about 5B Engine Works? Visit https://www.5bengineworks.com/.